i need alternate endings to mike’s story. ive been thinking up some of my own, may even journey back to my ao3 roots. it hurts my heart to think about how his character’s development is so dim, PLEASE DROP MIKE FUTURE THEORIES!
As a 31-year-old queer woman who has struggled with internalized homophobia, self-hatred, fear of rejection by society, and communication difficulties, I thought I had long outgrown these feelings. But today, I spent the entire day breaking down into uncontrollable sobs. So, I guess the hurt still runs deep.
I want to speak directly to the queer audience here today—especially the young ones.
THIS WAS NOT YOUR FAULT.
You saw it correctly. You read the subtext right. The feelings you had along the way were real and important. What you felt was by design—a calculated narrative strategy to make people like us feel included and seen.
Do not give anyone the power to belittle your experience, to convince you otherwise, to change your mind, or to make you feel wrong. Trust your perception. That ache of recognition was yours, and it was valid.
They borrowed your hope to sell a product. Now, take that hope back. Use it to find stories that deserve you, to create your own, and to connect with a community that sees you without games. Your insight isn't a flaw; it's your strength. Don't let them weaponize it against you.
You were never "delusional." You were targeted. And now, you are free.
i cannot bring myself to rate the finale on letterboxd (which is unlike me bc i log every piece of media i watch) truly bc i can’t sum up how i feel about the show in one review like wtf
a variation of “cutgate” happened in the sense that it happens in every show and movie that is released. it is a well known fact that scenes get cut in the editing room. we lose plots often. it’s just a part of the film industry and the art itself.
the difference between cutgate, and scenes getting cut, is the extremity—it’s the extent.
cutgate claims that we lost multiple major arcs. not just scenes, but entire narratives. hours of lost footage. so much capital—money and time—lost. there is a point where we teeter from being realists and acknowledging the nature of film, and becoming hopeful (or pessimistic, depending on how you see it) to a fault.
film, like all things, is a spectrum. and i think we are falling too far to one side of the spectrum.
THE ISSUE: STRANGER THINGS SEASON 5 VOLUME TWO has evidently been tampered with. Allegedly there have been entire plotlines and characters a
I know it sounds delusional (actually delusional this time) to put any faith in this, so I'm not. BUT, I'm not saying it's impossible either. I think it warrants looking into.
I don't tend to trust leakers, no matter how trustworthy they've been in the past. However, I do trust my own eyes, and there is a lot of suspicious and unusual stuff going on with vol 2.
First of all, based on everything that came before this, especially relating to byler, the Duffers ARE good writers. Or at least they were. You can't create a slow burn (or perceived slow burn) as nuanced and thought out as byler, which was vouched for by professional filmmakers and screenwriters, without being good at storytelling. So why would the quality of the show drop so drastically between vol 1 and 2? It's like they're two different shows entirely!
There are some scenes that are completely pointless or out of character unless something important was cut. Mike wandering into the room, looking at Will, then wandering back out? Wtf was that about? The perfect, and I mean PERFECT setup for an emotional coming out/byler confession scene, only to switch at the last second to a coming out so terrible that Noah DISSOCIATED while acting it out. WHY? Max and Will suddenly having this close bond despite exchanging maybe two lines before this in the whole series? Where did that come from? Will supposedly being shown some terrible visions by Vecna which are offscreen?
I just can't believe the Duffers' writing would drop in quality so suddenly.
I would say not to blindly trust this. BUT, if it's true, and Netflix intervened, then they would WANT us to dismiss this as a conspiracy and accept that we were queerbaited. They wouldn't want us poking around, spreading the word, and gathering evidence.
And even if talking about this won't change the show, if it's true and they stepped in, it will create UPROAR among the queer community. Uproar is how we make change.
So please, PLEASE don't go around calling people delusional for this, even if you don't believe it. I understand feeling hopeless right now, but if there's a chance we could've had a better conclusion to such an important story, we have to look into it. At least consider the possibility.
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